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ATM: Hell’s Tale of an Empire’s Fall

After an hour long drive and a forty minute hike we arrived at a place that might have been Eden. The entrance to Belize’s Actun Tunichil Muknal cave is submerged in a pool of water made ice blue by dissolved minerals. The morning sun flickered through the trees, illuminating the vibrant greens of the jungle trees and moss covered rocks. It was peaceful, lovely and alive.

Appearances are deceiving, though. This wasn’t the entrance to paradise. It was the opening to Xibalba (”shi-ball-bah”), the underworld of the ancient Mayan people. The story told here is not one of creation, but of sadness, desperation, and decline.

We went to Actun Tunichil Muknal to simply explore another cave system, the fifth of our recent travels. What we found instead was something unlike anything we’ve ever seen.

Our descent into Xibalba began with a short swim, away from the leafy jungle and into diminishing light. From inside, the view was perhaps even more striking; the bright colors of the outside world rendered more vivid by the interior darkness.

Turning away from the light, we set off into the cave. We scrambled over rocks and squeezed through crevasses, each obstacle made more challenging by an onslaught of rushing water.

On the threshold of the ancient Mayan underworld

Before long a bend in the cavern brought us to a threshold of sorts. We shut off our headlamps and experienced the cave in its natural state. Behind us, the faint glow of sunshine was still visible. Ahead, only inky blackness. We stood at the point where natural light ceases; where creatures of daylight give way to those of the underworld. Our world lay behind, Xibabla ahead.

I wondered about the Mayan, delving deeper into an unfamiliar environment they greatly feared. Their flickering torches casting dancing shadows in every direction. Did they imagine the shadows to be those of taunting demons? How could they not?

Pressing through the shadows and the water we eventually arrived at a place of significance. A short climb up flowstone led us to a series of chambers; nine in all. Coincidences are funny things. Perhaps it was fate. The Mayan ventured into their underworld and deep inside found exactly what legend foretold: the nine layers of hell.

At the beginning of these chambers we encountered our first artifact: a broken pot left behind more than a millennium ago. At one time it was filled with food, or drink, or some other cherished commodity and offered up as an appeasement to the gods.

What did the Mayan hope to accomplish? What suffering were they seeking to end?

As we moved deeper into the nine planes the styles and arrangement of the vessels became more varied, their concentration more dense. Was this a sign of desperation? When the earlier offerings failed, did the Mayan respond by pressing deeper into the underworld making ever greater sacrifices?

It seems so. Deeper still we encountered an artifact so startling it elicited a scream from one of our members. A calcified human skull rests on the flowstone, its skeleton barely visible beneath centuries of accumulated silt.

We’re left to wonder what pressures brought the Mayan people to this place. Why they ventured into an area whose name means “place of fear” and what hardships drove them to seek relief through increasingly extreme sacrifices. If they thought the gods of death could be entertained and pacified by an offering of human flesh, they soon learned the thirst of evil is not so easily slaked.

Just ahead we found more skeletons, and more signs of increased desperation. These bones were not those of mere peasants. They bear the sings of privilege and the markings of elite tribes. The people murdered in these chambers came from the ruling ranks. These blood sacrifices were of the earthly powerful to the mighty divine.

High above, up a steep climb, we found a final chamber; the ninth level in this section of the cave. Inside rests a lone female, whose bones show remarkable density for people of this period. She was a young, healthy woman from the upper echelons of Mayan society, her back so cleanly broken we could see the separation from a distance.

In front of us lay the “Crystal Maiden.” This young woman, possibly a priestess, was the greatest gift to the underworld. Left to suffer and die for the enjoyment of the gods. She died in vain. Despite all attempts to appease their gods the great Mayan civilization succumbed to its pressures. There were no more sacrifices. The Empire had fallen.

41 Comments on “ATM: Hell’s Tale of an Empire’s Fall”

Every time I read this kind of stuff, it makes me shiver… I know, these days even worse things are happening, but back then everything was done in such a primitive way, so ruthless just for somebody’s enjoyment and weird beliefs…

There is talk that the cave may be closed, or the artifacts removed – with good reason too. These treasures are just laying on the ground with nothing really protecting them. As wonderful as it is to see them “insitu” instead of behind glass in a museum, we saw some careless people stumbling about who definitely put some irreplaceable artifacts at risk.

I’m glad I stumbled on to your blog. We were in Belize last January and also explored a small part of Xibalba through one of their cave systems via cave tubing. We didn’t get the chance to see the more interesting things you saw in the chambers but still a great experience. Thanks for sharing your wonderful adventure. Love the first photo!

hhHhmmm that skeleton laying in the ground like that is beyond creepy! There is a catacombs underground the San Francisco church in Lima, Peru but the skeletons and bones are protected at least… Still a bit creepy if I must say. That first picture is amazing by the way!

Earlier this year a tourist dropped a camera on one of the skulls and damaged it. They no longer permit cameras in the cave. I expect that eventually the artifacts will be removed because people simply can’t be trusted not to ruin things.

Totally fascinating – I was left wondering how important archeological artifacts like the one’s you encountered are kept safe – I think I’ll follow and see what other interesting places you choose to visit and write about. Thanks

I was tipped off about this place today from reading a new book I purchased. In my research I came upon this post. What an interesting place. I am glad that they are working to preserve the ruins, but I hope it doesn’t close.

We hope it doesn’t close either, but it might be unavoidable. While we were there we saw people walking where they shouldn’t. A month or so later we heard that a tourist dropped a camera and fractured one of the skulls. Now they no longer allow people to bring cameras. It’s probably only a matter of time before they don’t allow anyone at all, or replace the artifacts with replicas.

That is sad. It’s crazy, we think that the US needs to be more proactive about preserving natural and historic resources, but there is much to appreciate when you see this type of ancient history left to the waste side. It would be nice if they could implement something similar to the caverns that we have in the US with ropes and guides in an effort to preserve that history while allowing tourism and leaving the site in its natural state.

They do try. You’re not supposed to enter the cave without a guide and I think they limit the number of guides and maybe even the number of entrants. But I don’t believe everyone follows the rules. Tourism is a lucrative business and it’s tough to enforce restrictions when there’s money to be made.

I was in Belieze in June and was at the Temple of the sun God our guide said they were told as young children to never enter the caves as they were sacred .. And not advised at all ..she said its were the dead rest ..

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